1
Lifestyles - Introduction
Aim
To help children understand the concept of
'lifestyle'.
To know that religious belief is an important part of the lifestyles of
many people.
Preparation
Before the lesson ask children to find out the meaning of their names and why the name was chosen for them.
Prepare materials for creating Lifestyle Charts. Obtain copy of Children Just Like Me or similar book giving information on lifestyles of children from around the world.
Lesson
Begin lesson by inviting a number of children, in turn, to write their names on the board (or large sheet of paper). Encourage the children to say what their names mean, why they were given that name and their feelings about it. Following discussion, introduce them to one of the characters in the Children Just Like Me (or similar book). Explain the meaning of his/her name. Then proceed to tell them about the different aspects of the character's life, excluding his/her religious beliefs.
Inform the children that the book / poster says a lot about the character's 'lifestyle', that is the way in which she leads her life. Ask the children to begin providing you with information about their lifestyles by filling in / making their Lifestyle Charts.
After a period of time, invite volunteers to share their work with the class. Following discussion, return to looking at the character's lifestyle. Tell the children that there is an important part of her lifestyle which you have not yet told them about. Explain to the children about the character's faith.
Ask the children if a belief in God is part of any of their lifestyles. If so, invite these children to talk about it and to include it on their lifestyle charts. Children, for whom religion is unimportant, are free to include a different lifestyle aspect not already covered by the chart.
Conclusion
Conclude lesson by telling children that over the next few weeks, they are going to be finding out about the lifestyles of lots of different people.
Teachers' Notes
A life-style chart should contain as much information as possible on the daily lives of the children in your class. Sections could include: Family, School, Food, Toys, House, Holidays, and, of course, Religious Beliefs. The children could either draw images or collect photographs, sweet wrappers, pictures from catalogues, etc. This could be a good opportunity for developing the home / school relationship.
I believe that Children Just Like Me by Barnabas and Anabel Kindersley (published by Dorling Kindersley in association with UNICEF) is the best resource for teaching about the lifestyles of children from other cultures. It can be used right across the curriculum and although the text has been written for older readers, it is easily adapted for use with infants.
It costs £9.99 and is available from most bookshops, but if ordered from UNICEF, they receive 50% of the cover price. UNICEF's telephone order line is 01245-476 315.
